1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of self-service financial transaction terminals, such as automatic teller machines (ATMs), and more particularly to a method and system for remote operator interface with a self-service financial terminal, such as an ATM.
2. Background of the Invention
ATMs include computer applications or software running on computer hardware within the ATM which, for example, interfaces with a host computer and other remote computers connected to the ATM over a network. On ATM systems that a financial institution, such as a bank, develops and that are used in branches or other locations, there are a set of functions that are used by supervisors and operators in the branch. These operator and supervisor functions are outside of the customer applications and need to be performed on a routine basis to maintain the service to administer those ATMs.
Currently, a way that the financial institution addresses that problem is to have a text based terminal that is connected over a serial line to the ATM platform developed by the financial institution. However, for a global ATM system, as the financial institution moves into a more off-the-shelf type of environment, for example, where hardware is purchased from different ATM vendors, that solution does not work for all vendor platforms. Further, the text based terminals are not a viable solution, because the technology is out of date and the cost of those terminals is also relatively high. Therefore, there is a need for an alternative to support the use of the operator functions for maintaining and servicing the ATMs, which is also a platform independent solution.